Graves near the tiny hamlet serve as reminders of March 16, 1968, when U.S. soldiers, angry at the deaths and maimings of their comrades, killed as many as 500 Vietnamese -- many of them old people, women and children.

In a country where ancestral worship remains a powerful tradition, the war's losses continue to grip hearts and minds.

After a lengthy military trial in 1971, U.S. Army platoon leader Lt. William Calley and five other soldiers were court-martialed for their parts in massacre.

Calley, convicted of the murders of 102 people, was sentenced to life in prison. He served only three years under house arrest because President Richard Nixon ordered his sentence reduced.

Debate still surrounds what really happened at My Lai, and the death toll has been disputed. A U.S. military investigation team estimated about 200 people were killed.

Healing the wounds

Workmen on Saturday cleaned statues and plaques in a memorial park outside the village's museum.

This year, area residents, local officials and two Americans who tried to stop the killings plan to mark the occasion with a ceremony aimed at healing the wounds.

U.S. helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson and door gunner Lawrence Colburn
returned to Vietnam Thursday. Both men had attempted to halt the My Lai massacre by placing themselves and their helicopter between U.S. troops and fleeing civilians.

Thompson visiting schoolchildren in My Lai

Together with colleague Glenn Andreotta, who died a few weeks later, Thompson and Colburn loaded people onto the chopper and flew them to safety.

During ceremonies in Washington earlier this month, Thompson and Colburn each were awarded the prestigious Soldier's Medal in recognition of their bravery.

"I hope people here understand it was not everyone that took part in that incident that day," said Thompson, 54, of Lafayette, Louisiana. He now works for the Veterans Administration, providing counseling for military veterans.

Pham Phi Nhanh, a woman saved by Thompson, said: "If he didn't rescue us we would have died because there was another American soldier who would have shot us."